ALDRICH, BESS STREETER (1881-1954)

Photograph of Bess Streeter Aldrich

Bessie Genevra Streeter Aldrich (Margaret
Dean Stevens, her pseudonym until 1918) was
born on February 17, 1881, in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
She lived there until 1901, when she graduated
from Iowa State Normal School with a degree
in education. In 1907 she married Captain
Charles S. Aldrich; in 1909 they moved with
their baby daughter to Elmwood, Nebraska,
where they had become co-owners of the
American Exchange Bank and where their
three sons were born. Aldrich was widowed in
1925 yet put all of her children through college
with her writing. She remained in Elmwood
until 1945, when she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska,
where she lived until her death on August
3, 1954.

Aldrich wrote nine novels, all of which, after
her A Lantern in Her Hand (1928), were on
the best-seller list. In addition, Aldrich wrote
more than 100 short stories, which were first
published in magazines; many were later republished
in two volumes. One story won an
O. Henry Award. Aldrich also was the author
of one novella and two omnibus editions and
served as a scriptwriter for Paramount. Much
of her work has been anthologized and produced
for radio and television. Her novel Miss Bishop (1933) became the movie Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941). All of Aldrich's novels remain
in print, in standard editions as well as
Braille and large print, and in a number of
European and Asian languages. Her short stories
from 1920 to 1954 also remain in print.

Bess Streeter Aldrich used the rural Midwest
and Great Plains for both her long and
short works. She is best described as a romantic realist who wrote of rural life in a positive
sense, valuing its warmth and generosity of
spirit, yet who was honest enough to show
that it was not perfect.

Aldrich received an honorary doctorate
from the University of Nebraska in 1934 and
the Iowa Johnson Brigham Literature Award
in 1949, and she was posthumously elected to
the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973.